The Little Mermaid Seto
by Find the Batteries
Summary: The ocean is a lonely place. It's just so big and cold and no matter where you look there's nothing. Except this time there was something. Rating and title subject to change


The ocean is a lonely place. It's just so big and the water is so cold and you're lucky if you come across someone who's willing to talk. Most creatures in the ocean focus on surviving, where the next meal is coming from, avoiding predators, stay away from humans. Those aren't very good conversation starters.

I've heard that there are places that aren't like the ocean I know, though. Places where the water is warm and there are creatures everywhere and humans aren't a threat because they know not to hurt anything. A place where humans swim alongside the sea creature, where predators aren't quite so scary.

I've dreamt about visiting there. Because that's all it really is to me right now: a dream world where there's always light and I'm not constantly wondering where my next meal is and if something behind me is going to eat me.

Thinking about that place reminds me just how hungry I am. How long have I been swimming? I look around to see if I can figure out where I am, but it's no use. The ocean I live in is vast and cold and dark and you could swim on and on and on and not find a single thing. There is only darkness in front of me, and it is no different in the other direction. I sigh. I look up.

When you look up at the sky through the water, there's always a contorted view. You can't really see the sky, but sometimes you can see the light of the sun if you're close enough to the surface. I like to think of it as my own personal ray of hope. "There's a lighter place out there," it tells me. I don't like to swim very far from the surface.

But when I look up this time, there is no sun splotch. Which isn't right because there's no way that it's already night time. And I'm too close to the surface for something to swim above me. So that could only mean that a ship had made it's way to the middle of nowhere and decided to plant itself right over me. It's not like I'm a mammal or anything though, so it doesn't actually do harm to me. I just want my sunlight back.

But I'm also curious.

Why are humans so bad? I've never met one before, I only believed what the sea creatures told me. Maybe those creatures are wrong. Maybe humans aren't as bad as they're made out to be. After all, in the dream sea the humans are kind. Why can't they be like that here?

And so, with that logic I make my way to the surface. The ship is much larger than I thought it would be, but I've never seen a ship up close either. Perhaps they're always this big. As I near the surface I take a deep breath and close my gills. They certainly won't help above water. When my head breaks the water, I quickly adjust to the air above water. It's a lot thinner than the water, which should make it easier to breathe but really just disrupts my breathing pattern.

Or maybe my breath was taken away by the enormity of the ship. It's so much bigger than anything I've seen. I had never really looked at human ships above the surface, only swam below them, sometimes briefly touching their wooden bottoms and marveling at the material unlike anything I'd ever felt. But this was one a whole other level than just touching the bottom. I'm looking at something taller than a whale that floats better than one. It's astounding.

I can hear voices coming from the top of the ship. The voices are loud and coarse but jovial and there's something else. Underneath the voices are loud bangs and sharp slapping noises, but there's also something lighter, something that feels like it could be floating. I don't know why, but it makes my chest feel light. I'm drawn towards it. I wish I could go up there and join the humans on the ship.

The noises on the ship suddenly get louder and I'm not sure why. But I see movement coming from the clouds attached to the ship. Something flies past them, something much bigger than a bird, and then the something is over the edge of the ship. For a moment the something hovers in the air and then it's falling. And as it falls I realize two things.

The something is a human.

And the human is falling right above me.

But I realize the second thing a bit too late. I try to duck back under the water and swim away but the human is falling too fast and I'm barely able to move to where it doesn't fall on my head. Instead, it lands on my stomach and we both sink under the water. It hurts a bit, but I know that the human on my stomach needs to be above the water to live. So I ignore my own pain and wrap my arms around the human and I swim as quickly as possible back to the surface.

When we break, the human starts to cough, or at least that's what it sounds like. But when I look at it, it seems to be smiling. And then it looks back at me and I forget how to function. I've never seen eyes so green. Everything under the ocean is so pale, so muted, it's rare to see anything green, at least in the ocean I know. All I know is gray and blue and anything in between those two colors. But I've only seen green once and even then it wasn't this bright, this lively. The green I'd seen before could only be called dead when compared to this human's eyes.

"Who knew something so pretty could be found in the middle of the ocean?"

I'm surprised when the human says this. I didn't know humans could speak. I mean, I knew they communicated but I didn't think it would be in the same way as my people. At least now I know I'll be able to actually talk to the human.

Then I realize just what the human had said. It had called me pretty. Me, who is underweight for my species. Me, who hasn't even cared to look at my own face in years. I feel my face heat up and my heart starts beating faster and suddenly I'm too close to the human because I can't think of anything else other than the fact that the human is much prettier than me. But I can't just pull away. After all, humans are terrible swimmers, according to the sharks I've talked to. If I let go of the human it may drown and I couldn't let that happen. I have too many questions to ask it, too many things to learn.

And now is my chance.

"T-thank you," I mumble. The human just grins.

"You don't have to hold onto me so tightly you know," it says. "I do know how to swim."

The heat in my face increases and I drop the human and jerk away. I lower myself into the water to where only above my nose is showing and I open my gills. I didn't realize this human would be so loud. But I don't feel bad when I think about it. It's a nice feeling actually, not being surrounded by silence. The human wades towards me.

"You'll be the one drowning if you don't come up a little higher than that," it tells me, which lets me know that it hasn't figured out what I am. That's almost reassuring.

Would the human freak out if it knew? Would it try to take me away and sell me or maybe even eat me? I've heard that humans eat fish. Would a human eat a mermaid too? I am technically part fish. What if I had misjudged this human? What if it wasn't kind? What would it do to me?

"No need to look so scared," it jokes. "I might be a pirate but I'm not gonna hurt little boys I find swimming around. By the way, where's your ship? We didn't pass one by, but there's no way you could be out here without one. Unless you're like a mermaid or something." The human laughs at its own words. I don't find it very funny, however. I rise above the water enough to where I can speak clearly.

"I don't have a ship," I inform it. The human looks at me like I'm crazy, but before it can say anything else I dive under water. I make sure that it sees my tail.

The water is cool against my burning cheeks. What will this human do with the information I've just given it? Hopefully it won't hurt me. It did say that it doesn't hurt little boys. Although I am far from little and certainly different from the human boys it's used to, I'm sure the statement still applies. Maybe. I look at the human's wading form. Have I given it enough time to figure it out? Is it okay to go back above water? I still want to talk with the human after all.

Well, there really is only one way to find out.

I take a deep breath to try and tame my restless heart. I swim up and break surface.


End file.
